BBC Click turns spotlight on Indian tech

On the first day of the first edition of NewsX Festival of Ideas, noteworthy speakers deliberated on topics through 25 sessions in a lit-fest-style event. It was jam-packed with spellbinding conversations, celebrity sightings, book signings and selfies. The main highlight of the event was the recognition and awards presented to the guest speakers. The event concluded with great enthusiasm and success as it aimed to foster a platform for meaningful conversations, the exchange of innovative ideas, among attendees.

The event, held at The Taj Ambassador at New Delhi, provided a platform for our esteemed guests to share industry insights from their respective fields in a free and open conversation with NewsX. The Festival of Ideas brought together various Speakers from diverse backgrounds, including Politicians & Political Analysts, Celebrities, Authors, Start-up Founders, Defence and Media Experts.

After the event, recognized and honoured participants as a token of appreciation for their dedication and talent. Here’s what some of prominent Thought Leaders, Authors and Luminaries had to say on day one of the Festival of Ideas among others:

‘No one can steal Rajnikanth Stature, We all should respect this fact’ Former UP CM, Akhilesh Yadav

'Felt like Al Pacino from Scarface' Celebrated Actor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui narrates the story of the Gangs of Wasseypur.

‘The decade between 1950 and 1960 was definably the most productive decade for the short history of our republic’ said Congress Lok Sabha MP, Manish Tewari.
‘Each Prime Minister made contribution but the debacle of 1962 goes into the account of PM Jawaharlal Nehru’ stated Ram Madhav, President India Foundation.
‘Agency Journalism is zero ego, no face and very selfless’ ANI Editor, Smita Prakash on the role of traditional media.

'Wakhan Corridor built to keep India away from Czarist Russia.' Author and journalist Sandeep Unnithan on Wakhan corridor.

'The trick is to use the degree as insurance, not as a noose. A lot of people use it as a noose and its deferred gratification.' Deep Kalra, Make My Trip founder on Start-Up culture.

'Rahul is not what he was a year ago, Bharat Jodo Yatra has changed his profile. He is courageous, comes across as sincere but I don't know if he has what's needed to rule India?' says Author of Accidental Prime Minister, Sanajaya Baru.

Stay tuned for the Day-2 of Festival of Ideas as we delve deeper into thought-provoking discussions, inspiring talks with eminent personalities.

channels for more than a year (Week 16 2022-Week 33 2023) as per BARC ratings data. This is in the most relevant target group for English News, which is 10L+ markets amongst NCCS AB 22+ age group among males.

*Source: BARC| 10L+| NCCS AB 22+ Males| Wk.16'22 - 33'23, share amongst 6 channels

Moreover, the viewership data of the last 8 weeks, which will be the correct representation of the current scenario, establishes Times Now's dominace across multiple TGs (both NCCS AB 22+ as well as NCCS AB 22+ Males) in 10L+ markets (see chart).

Channel Factory/Y&A Transformation have announced that they have signed up to be one of the gold sponsors at AdTech, New Delhi.

Commenting on the development, Robin Zieme, Chief Growth Officer – Global, Channel Factory (CF) said: “We have a long-term commitment to India.  Such investments in our early stages in the country are to display our seriousness in the market.  We look forward to connecting with advertisers and agencies at the AdTech to explain our proposition.”

Adding to the same, Yesudas Pillai, Founder Y&A Transformation and Country Lead, CF said: “Robin and I will be officially unveiling CF India at the AdTech on 16^th on the main stage.  We have also set up a lounge space on the exhibition floor, lounge No.9.  We are welcoming all our partners and well-wishers to visit us there and engage with us.”

Jaswant Singh, Country Head AdTech India said: “We are working towards making this edition of AdTech bigger and better than ever before. We are grateful to CF/Y&A for choosing our platform for their lunch in India.  We are committed to doing everything possible to make their launch a success.”

Zee LIVE is diversifying its IP portfolio with its first foray into the children’s genre. BasicFirst Presents KODE (Kids of Digital Era) will be held in Mumbai on December 14 and 15, and in Bangalore on December 28 and 29.

With Zee LIVE’s BasicFirst Presents KODE sci-tech festival for kids of digital era, the Zee Group, for the first time, is aiming to seamlessly adapt to the digital natives’ tastes and habits and provide them with a platform to inspire learning and curiosity in the field of science and technology. As Sci-tech increasingly continues to transform the learning experience, making it more interactive and demonstrative, KODE strives to deliver a platform to the young minds to understand and explore this digital world.

The digital natives expect their world to be smart and have a tech-first mentality. They play a vital role in the technological revolution the world is witnessing today. Based on the latest UN data, these digital natives will make up 32 per cent of the global population by 2020. Today, they are the most connected, educated and sophisticated generation of the world.

Zee LIVE has curated KODE to set free the minds of children aged 2 to 14. It is a festival for children to understand, explore and experience the world of science and technology. The festival will include:
• Professionally curated, age-specific workshops, including math and science board games
• Smart Cities: Reimagine the World and AR/VR art workshops for children aged 2 to 5
• Workshops on robotics, smart fabric creation, superhero mechatronics, drone building, crypto/blockchain, etc, for children aged 5 to 9
• Workshops on automotive aeromodelling, building smart cities, material science, app making, astronomy, etc, for children aged 9 to 14.
• An open kitchen for food chemistry experiments

Swaroop Banerjee, COO, Zee LIVE, said: “As a media and technology group, we are focussed on creating engagements through Zee Live that matter to the everyday life of our viewers and consumers. We are excited to foray into the world of kids aged 2 to 14, while curating what we propose will be the nation’s first Science and Technology Festival. We have spent the last year carefully researching every aspect of this festival, the incredible speed of adaption to technology of our young digital natives, the increasing evolution of screens, sensor and voice based technology in their lives combined with how they use it almost as a language to communicate and curate their dreams. What is exciting for us is the quality of engagement here from robotics to lab sciences, drone tech to coding and the fact that the age bracketing of segments will help the parents and kids choose the experience.

Randhir Kumar, Founder & CEO, BasicFirst, said: “Solving students’ doubts via technology is the ultimate objective of our company. We have created a few innovative path-breaking tech-oriented products to address student’s problems, queries and doubts. Our association with Zee Live (KODE) is based on a problem-solving approach intended to bring passion towards digital young minds which would create a more justifiable academic future for students. Sci-tech fests like KODE would certainly help students to generate interest among digital aspects to discover more about Science and Technology.”

Times Network has announced the launch of ET NOW in Canada after successfully locking a distribution deal with Ethnic Channels Group (ECG). The partnership was concretised during MIPCOM 2019 at Cannes, France.

Expanding its footprint in North America, ET NOW offers curated content such as India Development Debate, Start Up Central, The Money Show, India Tonight and more with a holistic deliberation on the Indian financial markets, global and local trends impacting the economy.

Commenting on the partnership, Jagdish Mulchandani, COO & Executive President, Times Network said, “We are excited to bring ET NOW in Canada through our partnership with ECG, the foremost broadcast leader in the region. ET NOW has raised the bar for the English business news category in India and I am confident this launch will further enrich our offering for the South Asian viewers in the region.”

“In today's global market, consumption of business news and information will only continue to increase. As a company that understands both content and technology, ECG is very proud to partner with the Times Group to launch ET Now in Canada," said Slava Levin, Co-Founder & CEO of ECG.

TikTok has collaborated with independent and youth volunteer non-profit organisation, Bhumi, to launch the #CleanIndia Campaign. The campaign aims to mobilise TikTok community to contribute to the Swachh Bharat Mission to achieve universal sanitation coverage and draw focus on it in the country.

As part of the partnership, TikTok has launched a campaign #CleanIndia on the platform to encourage users to participate in this challenge by cleaning their neighbourhood and showcasing their work on TikTok by posting before and after videos.

Bhumi will conduct and host cleanliness drives across multiple cities pan India to encourage TikTok users and citizens to volunteer in this mission.

Nitin Saluja, Director, Public Policy, TikTok India said, “TikTok is committed to fostering a constructive change in India through its platform and we are delighted to collaborate with Bhumi for this significant campaign. Cleanliness is extremely important as it has significant health and economic benefits and with this campaign we are excited to contribute to the overall Swachh Bharat Mission by leveraging TikTok’s strong user community that hails from the deepest pockets of India and influence change for social good. ”

"We are delighted to partner with TikTok to take our mission forward and realize the Clean India vision. With the collaboration, our aim is to encourage TikTok community to volunteer and encourage others towards cleanliness of our surrounding areas. We also encourage the TikTok users to become part of our Clean Squad and supplement the Swachh Bharat Mission and improving universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces," said Dr Prahalathan KK, Co-founder, Bhumi.

This collaboration with Bhumi and the #CleanIndia campaign have been launched as part of TikTok For Good, a long-term, integrated engagement initiative.

Last November 9, in Mumbai, it was officially announced with a special event the distribution in India of the Tonino Lamborghini luxury beverages products, at the presence of the CEO and Vice President of the Tonino Lamborghini Company, Ferruccio Lamborghini, and the founder of M/s Heinrich and official distributor for Tonino Lamborghini Luxury Beverages products for India, Thomas Manoj, VIP guests and local authorities.

Tonino Lamborghini Company was founded in Italy in 1981 by Tonino Lamborghini, heir of the Lamborghini family. Mr. Lamborghini has taken inspiration from his family heritage and his vast experience in mechanical and automotive engineering to develop a lifestyle experience brand with a range of luxury design products, including: watches, eyewear, smartphones, perfumes, furniture, clothing, sports accessories, golf & utility carts, 5-star boutique hotels, real estate projects, cafés and lounge.

Driven by a challenging spirit and eclecticism that characterize his DNA, in the mid-‘90s, Tonino Lamborghini was among the first entrepreneurs to launch his own line of Made in Italy Beverages line. To this day, his mission is to spread the intrinsic energy of the brand through a line of iconic Italian beverage products.

The exclusive Tonino Lamborghini Luxury Beverage line today includes Espresso coffee, Hot Chocolate, Energy Drink and Vodka. The products interpret the spirit of the brand also through an appealing design and a unique packaging style.

All Tonino Lamborghini Beverage products are synonymous throughout the world of Made in Italy, high quality and style. Distributed in more than 40 countries, the products are worldwide present in Ho.Re.Ca. and Super Ho.Re.Ca., in selected clubs, in specialized retail channels and in branded hotels, lounges and cafeterias. The full range of branded products will be officially distributed In India in collaboration with the famous Indian distributor M/s Heinrich.

"I am glad to announce today the collaboration with Heinrich for the distribution of Tonino Lamborghini beverages in this great growing Country,” said Tonino Lamborghini. - “Since ’90, at the beginning of this challenge for my father Ferruccio in the field of beverages, the mission of our company is to spread worldwide the intrinsic energy of the brand also through a line of iconic Italian beverage products. Made in Italy, exclusive receipt, unique design packaging, and unmistakable flavour, are core values for our Tonino Lamborghini Luxury beverages line, which goal is to accompany the customers from the breakfast to the evenings, representing a true Italian upscale lifestyle. Therefore, I would like to express our special thanks and appreciation for the efforts in representing our Italian brand style here in India through the distribution of our beverage products to M/s Heinrich. As you know, you are not simply distributing beverages, you are offering to your clients a real Italian way of life!”

Thomas Manoj said, "It is my great honour and prestige to distribute Tonino Lamborghini Luxury Beverages in India. From now on our customers will have the chance to taste the perfect cup of Italian coffee and Hot Chocolate, and will have the opportunity to add to their nights a touch of real Italian Style and energy tasting the Tonino Lamborghini Energy Drink and Tonino Lamborghini Vodka! Thanks to this new collaboration we will bring to India a part of Italy! All our efforts will be to offer these high-quality products in all Indian HORECA and Super Ho.Re.Ca. Channels!”